Chutine cuts wide copper zones at Mexican project

The first four holes of a 45-hole drilling program on the San Antonio de la Huerta copper-gold property in northwestern Mexico have returned some impressive widths for Toronto-based Chutine Resources (VSE). Stepout drilling on the eastern edge of a previously outlined copper reserve, Chutine cut 197 ft. grading 1.09% copper at the top of the first hole, including 157 ft. grading 0.01 oz. per ton gold. The second hole returned 1.13% copper, a weighted average over the hole’s 400-ft. length.

“We think this drilling is going to increase our reserves substantially,” said Chutine Chairman Peter Holmes. Preliminary reserves, based on exploration by Alcoa in the late 1960s and previous small- scale mining, stand at 15.7 million tons grading 1% copper.

The drilling program, which will eventually total about 13,000 ft., is an attempt to enhance the grade and tonnage of known copper reserves, test several geophysical and geochemical gold anomalies on the property, and prove the presence of a major porphyry copper deposit.

To do this, Chutine is using a new approach on the property, which has seen 28 producing mines come and go over the years.

“What we’ve got here is a property that people have looked at for the high-grade potential of the copper oxide ore,” said Holmes. Rather than concentrate on shallow oxide mineralization, Chutine is drilling deeper to test for sulphide ore. Alcoa, for the most part, restricted the depth of its drilling to about 200 ft.

At depth, the presence of sulphide mineralization is accompanied by a distinct phyllic to propylitic alteration assemblage, suggesting the presence of a porphyry copper deposit, according to Chutine geologists.

Holmes is also excited by the property’s as yet undefined gold associations, and will plug several of the first phase holes into a geochemical anomaly outside of the main copper deposit.

Meanwhile, Holmes and his Mexican technical staff are putting the finishing touches to a feasibility study on the Luz del Cobre mine site, within the property area. The study will evaluate the potential for a solvent-extraction-electrowinning operation at the open pit mine, which would produce 16.5 tons of copper cathode per day. Holmes estimates the plant will cost $10-15 million to build.

“What I’m trying to do is develop a profit centre on the site,” he said. “The cash flow can then be used to develop and explore the rest of the property.”